‘Big Four’ meatpackers under fire as beef prices soar

McDonald’s and other food industry players accuse the big beef packers of collusion and price-gouging. The packers deny these allegations On 21 November, at the end of the first shift at the Tyson Foods beef processing plant in Lexington, Nebraska, all workers were called to the lunchroom and told they no longer had jobs. Many gathered afterward in the gravel parking lot. Some wailed and cried out. “It’s a terrible thing to know that we won’t be able to pay rent, won’t be able to pay the elec...

By Ted Genoways, Food & Environment Reporting Network